[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4848-4850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00869]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-533-869]


Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires From India: Final 
Negative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and Final 
Determination of Critical Circumstances

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce (Department) determines that 
imports of certain new pneumatic off-the-road tires (OTR tires) from 
India are not being, or are not likely to be, sold in the United States 
at less than fair value (LTFV). The final estimated weighted-average 
dumping margins of sales at LTFV are listed below in the section 
entitled ``Final Determination.'' The finding for whether critical 
circumstances exist for producers and exporters subject to the all-
others rate is moot because the antidumping duty margins for Alliance 
Tires Private Limited (ATC) and Balkrishna Industries Limited (BKT) are 
zero. The period of investigation is January 1, 2015, through December 
31, 2015.

DATES: Effective January 17, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lilit Astvatsatrian or Trisha Tran, 
AD/CVD Operations, Office IV, Enforcement and Compliance, International 
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-6412, or (202) 
482-4852, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On August 19, 2016, the Department published the Preliminary 
Determination in the Federal Register. \1\ In the Preliminary 
Determination, we postponed the final determination until no later than 
135 days after the date of publication of the Preliminary Determination 
in accordance with section 735(a)(2) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as 
amended (the Act).\2\
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    \1\ See Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires: Negative 
Preliminary Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value and 
Postponement of Final Determination, 81 FR 55431 (August 19, 2016) 
(``Preliminary Determination'') and accompanying Preliminary 
Decision Memorandum.
    \2\ See Preliminary Determination, 81 FR at 55432.
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    A summary of the events that occurred since the Department 
published the Preliminary Determination, as well as a full discussion 
of the issues raised by parties for this final determination, may be 
found in the Issues and Decision Memorandum.\3\ The Issues and Decision 
Memorandum is a public document, and is on file electronically via 
Enforcement and Compliance's Antidumping and Countervailing Duty 
Centralized Electronic Service System (ACCESS). ACCESS is available to 
registered users at http://access.trade.gov, and is available to all 
parties in the Central Records Unit, room B8024 of the main Department 
of Commerce building. In addition, a complete version of the Issues and 
Decision Memorandum can be accessed directly at http://enforcement.trade.gov. The signed and electronic versions of the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum are identical in content.
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    \3\ See Memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Operations, to 
Paul Piquado, Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance 
``Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from India: Issues and 
Decision Memorandum for the Final Determination of Sales at Less 
Than Fair Value,'' dated concurrently with this determination and 
hereby adopted by this notice (``Issues and Decision Memorandum'').
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Scope Comments

    In accordance with the Preliminary Determination, the Department 
set aside a period of time for parties to address scope issues in case 
briefs or other written comments on scope issues.\4\ In the Preliminary 
Determination, we did not modify the scope language as it appeared in 
the Initiation Notice.\5\ No interested party submitted scope comments 
in case or rebuttal briefs. Therefore, the scope of this investigation 
remains unchanged for this final determination.\6\
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    \4\ See Preliminary Determination, 81 FR at 55432, and 
accompanying Preliminary Decision Memorandum at ``Scope Comments.''
    \5\ Id.; see also Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from 
India and the People's Republic of China: Initiation of Less-Than-
Fair-Value Investigations, 81 FR 7073 (February 10, 2016) 
(``Initiation Notice'').
    \6\ The Department has added two additional subheadings from the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to the list included 
for convenience and customs purposes since the Preliminary 
Determination. No revisions were made to the written description of 
the subject merchandise.
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Scope of the Investigation

    The products covered by this investigation are OTR tires from 
India. For a complete description of the scope of the investigation, 
see Appendix I of this notice.

Analysis of Comments Received

    All issues raised in the case and rebuttal briefs that were 
submitted by parties in this investigation are addressed in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum. A list of these issues is attached to this 
notice at Appendix II.

Verification

    As provided in section 782(i) of the Act, in August and September 
2016, we conducted sales and cost verifications of the questionnaire 
responses submitted by ATC and BKT. We used standard verification 
procedures, including an examination of relevant accounting and 
production records, as well as original source documents provided by 
both respondents.

Changes to the Dumping Margin Calculations Since the Preliminary 
Determination

    Based on our analysis of the comments received, pre-verification 
findings, and our findings at verification, we made certain changes to 
the dumping margin calculations for each respondent, ATC and BKT. For a 
discussion of these changes, see the Issues and Decision Memorandum.

Use of Adverse Facts Available

    The Department has relied on partial adverse facts available under 
sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.\7\ A full discussion of our 
decision to rely on adverse facts available is presented in the Issues 
and Decision Memorandum.
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    \7\ See Sections 776(a) and (b) of the Act.

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[[Page 4849]]

Final Determination of Critical Circumstances

    On December 9, 2016, Petitioners \8\ filed a timely critical 
circumstances allegation pursuant to section 733(e)(1) of the Act and 
19 CFR 351.206(b), alleging that critical circumstances exist with 
respect to imports of the merchandise under consideration.\9\ The 
finding for whether critical circumstances exist with respect to 
producers and exporters subject to the all others rate is moot because 
the antidumping duty margins for ATC and BKT are zero.
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    \8\ Titan Tire Corporation (Titan) and the United Steel, Paper 
and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and 
Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (USW) 
(collectively, Petitioners).
    \9\ Letter from ATC, ``Certain New Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires 
from India--Petitioners' Critical Circumstances Allegation,'' dated 
December 9, 2016.
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Final Determination

    The Department determines, as provided in section 735 of the Act, 
that the following weighted-average dumping margins exist for the 
period January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Weighted-
                                     average   Cash deposit adjusted for
        Exporter/producer            margin          subsidy offset
                                    (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATC Tires Private Ltd............        0.00  Not Applicable.
Balkrishna Industries Limited....        0.00  Not Applicable.
All-Others.......................        0.00  Not Applicable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Consistent with section 735(c)(1) of the Act, the Department has 
not determined an estimated all-others rate because it has not made an 
affirmative final determination of sales at LTFV.

Suspension of Liquidation

    Because the Department has not made an affirmative final 
determination of sales at LTFV, we are not directing U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection to suspend liquidation of any entries of OTR tires 
from India.
    In the final determination of the companion countervailing duty 
investigation of OTR tires from India, the Department determined that 
the all other companies received a benefit from export subsidies.\10\ 
In the instant investigation, the antidumping duty margins ATC and BKT 
are zero and no cash deposits will be collected. Therefore, no 
adjustment is required for export subsidies pursuant to sections 
735(c)(1) and 772(c)(1)(C) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.210(d).
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    \10\ See Countervailing Duty Investigation of Certain New 
Pneumatic Off-the-Road Tires from India: Final Affirmative 
Determination, and Final Affirmative Critical Circumstances 
Determination, in Part, dated concurrently with this notice.
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Disclosure

    We will disclose the calculations performed to interested parties 
in this proceeding within five days of the date of announcement, in 
accordance with 19 CFR 351.224(b).

U.S. International Trade Commission Notification

    In accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, we will notify the 
U.S. International Trade Commission of our final determination.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Orders (APOs)

    This notice will serve as a reminder to parties subject to APOs of 
their responsibility concerning the disposition of proprietary 
information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 
351.305(a)(3). Timely written notification of return or destruction of 
APO materials or conversion to judicial protective order is hereby 
requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an 
APO is a sanctionable violation.
    This determination and notice are issued and published in 
accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Act and 19 CFR 
351.210(c).

    Dated: January 3, 2017.
Paul Piquado,
Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix I

Scope of the Investigation

    The scope of this investigation is certain new pneumatic off-
the-road tires (certain off road tires). Certain off road tires are 
tires with an off road tire size designation. The tires included in 
the scope may be either tube-type \11\ or tubeless, radial, or non-
radial, regardless of whether for original equipment manufacturers 
or the replacement market.
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    \11\ While tube-type tires are subject to the scope of this 
proceeding, tubes and flaps are not subject merchandise and 
therefore are not covered by the scope of this proceeding, 
regardless of the manner in which they are sold (e.g., sold with or 
separately from subject merchandise).
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    Subject tires may have the following prefix or suffix 
designation, which appears on the sidewall of the tire:
    Prefix designations:
    DH--Identifies a tire intended for agricultural and logging 
service which must be mounted on a DH drop center rim.
    VA--Identifies a tire intended for agricultural and logging 
service which must be mounted on a VA multipiece rim.
    IF--Identifies an agricultural tire to operate at 20 percent 
higher rated load than standard metric tires at the same inflation 
pressure.
    VF--Identifies an agricultural tire to operate at 40 percent 
higher rated load than standard metric tires at the same inflation 
pressure.
    Suffix designations:
    ML--Mining and logging tires used in intermittent highway 
service.
    DT--Tires primarily designed for sand and paver service.
    NHS--Not for Highway Service.
    TG--Tractor Grader, off-the-road tire for use on rims having 
bead seats with nominal +0.188'' diameter (not for highway service).
    K--Compactor tire for use on 5[deg] drop center or semi-drop 
center rims having bead seats with nominal minus 0.032 diameter.
    IND--Drive wheel tractor tire used in industrial service.
    SL--Service limited to agricultural usage.
    FI--Implement tire for agricultural towed highway service.
    CFO--Cyclic Field Operation.
    SS--Differentiates tires for off-highway vehicles such as mini 
and skid-steer loaders from other tires which use similar size 
designations such as 7.00-15TR and 7.00-15NHS, but may use different 
rim bead seat configurations.
    All tires marked with any of the prefixes or suffixes listed 
above in their sidewall markings are covered by the scope regardless 
of their intended use.
    In addition, all tires that lack any of the prefixes or suffixes 
listed above in their sidewall markings are included in the scope, 
regardless of their intended use, as long as the tire is of a size 
that is among the numerical size designations listed in the 
following sections of the Tire and Rim Association Year Book, as 
updated annually, unless the tire falls within one of the specific 
exclusions set forth below. The sections of the Tire and Rim 
Association Year Book listing numerical size designations of covered 
certain off road tires include:
    The table of mining and logging tires included in the section on 
Truck-Bus tires;
    The entire section on Off-the-Road tires;
    The entire section on Agricultural tires; and
    The following tables in the section on Industrial/ATV/Special 
Trailer tires:
     Industrial, Mining, Counterbalanced Lift Truck (Smooth 
Floors Only);
     Industrial and Mining (Other than Smooth Floors);
     Construction Equipment;
     Off-the-Road and Counterbalanced Lift Truck (Smooth 
Floors Only);
     Aerial Lift and Mobile Crane; and
     Utility Vehicle and Lawn and Garden Tractor.
    Certain off road tires, whether or not mounted on wheels or 
rims, are included in the scope. However, if a subject tire is 
imported mounted on a wheel or rim, only the tire is covered by the 
scope. Subject merchandise includes certain off road tires produced 
in the subject countries whether mounted on wheels or rims in a 
subject country or in a third country. Certain off road tires are 
covered whether or not they are accompanied by other parts, e.g., a 
wheel, rim, axle parts, bolts, nuts, etc. Certain off road tires 
that enter attached to a vehicle are not covered by the scope.
    Specifically excluded from the scope are passenger vehicle and 
light truck tires, racing

[[Page 4850]]

tires, mobile home tires, motorcycle tires, all-terrain vehicle 
tires, bicycle tires, on-road or on-highway trailer tires, and truck 
and bus tires. Such tires generally have in common that the symbol 
``DOT'' must appear on the sidewall, certifying that the tire 
conforms to applicable motor vehicle safety standards. Such excluded 
tires may also have the following prefixes and suffixes included as 
part of the size designation on their sidewalls:
    Prefix letter designations:
    AT--Identifies a tire intended for service on All-Terrain 
Vehicles;
    P--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on passenger 
cars;
    LT--Identifies a tire intended primarily for service on light 
trucks;
    T--Identifies a tire intended for one-position ``temporary use'' 
as a spare only; and
    ST--Identifies a special tire for trailers in highway service.
    Suffix letter designations:
    TR--Identifies a tire for service on trucks, buses, and other 
vehicles with rims having specified rim diameter of nominal plus 
0.156'' or plus 0.250'';
    MH--Identifies tires for Mobile Homes;
    HC--Identifies a heavy duty tire designated for use on ``HC'' 
15'' tapered rims used on trucks, buses, and other vehicles. This 
suffix is intended to differentiate among tires for light trucks, 
and other vehicles or other services, which use a similar 
designation.
    Example: 8R17.5 LT, 8R17.5 HC;
    LT--Identifies light truck tires for service on trucks, buses, 
trailers, and multipurpose passenger vehicles used in nominal 
highway service;
    ST--Special tires for trailers in highway service; and
    M/C--Identifies tires and rims for motorcycles.
    The following types of tires are also excluded from the scope: 
Pneumatic tires that are not new, including recycled or retreaded 
tires and used tires; non-pneumatic tires, including solid rubber 
tires; aircraft tires; and turf, lawn and garden, and golf tires. 
Also excluded from the scope are mining and construction tires that 
have a rim diameter equal to or exceeding 39 inches. Such tires may 
be distinguished from other tires of similar size by the number of 
plies that the construction and mining tires contain (minimum of 16) 
and the weight of such tires (minimum 1500 pounds).
    The subject merchandise is currently classifiable under 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) subheadings: 
4011.20.1025, 4011.20.1035, 4011.20.5030, 4011.20.5050, 
4011.61.0000, 4011.62.0000, 4011.63.0000, 4011.69.0050, 
4011.92.0000, 4011.93.4000, 4011.93.8000, 4011.94.4000, 
4011.94.8000, 8431.49.9038, 8431.49.9090, 8709.90.0020, and 
8716.90.1020. Tires meeting the scope description may also enter 
under the following HTSUS subheadings: 4011.99.4550, 4011.99.8550, 
8424.90.9080, 8431.20.0000, 8431.39.0010, 8431.49.1090, 
8431.49.9030, 8432.90.0005, 8432.90.0015, 8432.90.0030, 
8432.90.0080, 8433.90.5010, 8503.00.9560, 8708.70.0500, 
8708.70.2500, 8708.70.4530, 8716.90.5035, 8716.90.5055, 8716.90.5056 
and 8716.90.5059. While HTSUS subheadings are provided for 
convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the 
subject merchandise is dispositive.

Appendix II

List of Topics Discussed in the Issues and Decision Memorandum

I. Summary
II. List of Issues
III. Background
IV. Scope of the Investigation
V. Discussion of the Issues:
    Comment 1: Standard Differential Pricing Methodology
    Comment 2: Unreported U.S. Sample Sales
    Comment 3: Sales Outside the Ordinary Course of Trade
    Comment 4: Commission Offset
    Comment 5: ATC's Revised Cost Database Submitted After 
Verification
    Comment 6: Affirmative Determination of ATC
    Comment 7: Correction of Minor Errors from U.S. Sales 
Verification
    Comment 8: Warranty
    Comment 9: Other Discounts
    Comment 10: Classification of BKT's Sales
    Comment 11: Duty Drawback
    Comment 12: CEP Offset
    Comment 13: Quantity Unit of Measure
    Comment 14: Correction of Verification Errors
    Comment 15: Correction of Preliminary Determination Errors
VI. Recommendation

[FR Doc. 2017-00869 Filed 1-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P